Clinton has met with potential campaign managers

With weeks to go until she makes an announcement about her future, Hillary Clinton has started meeting with a broad range of political figures — including potential campaign managers, POLITICO has learned.

Clinton, who several people close to her describe as still not firmly decided on a campaign, met Wednesday with outgoing Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee executive director Guy Cecil, one of the two people most often described as a potential campaign manager for her 2016 campaign, people familiar with the get-together said.

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It was unclear whether the two discussed a future role in a campaign — Cecil did not respond to requests for comment.

But the meeting is one of several Clinton has begun to hold in the period following the midterm elections, in which she was very active, and as she is turning her attention toward what a campaign would look like if she runs again.

Clinton has also spoken with Robby Mook, another often-mentioned potential campaign manager, about 2016, people familiar with the discussions said, but the details were unclear. Mook did not respond to an email.

Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill, asked about the meetings, said, “As [Clinton] decides, she’s casting a wide net and wants to hear from a variety of people on a range of specific topics, from policy ideas to what a successful campaign would look like.”

Mook, who managed longtime Clinton family friend Terry McAuliffe’s 2013 campaign for governor of Virginia, is said to have informally worked with Clinton’s advisers in the lead-up to the 2014 midterms, particularly around her initial trip to Iowa.

Cecil worked with Clinton’s team on her schedule for a wide number of Senate candidates this cycle. Both Cecil and Mook worked on Clinton’s 2008 presidential race.

Another potential campaign manager, EMILY’S List president Stephanie Schriock, recently declined to tell reporters at a daylong Ready for Hillary conference whether she had met with Clinton.

Earlier Wednesday, the White House revealed that Clinton had spent an hour with President Obama at a catch-up meeting.

The contours of Clinton’s potential campaign have been a fixation of Washington operatives and donors for much of the past two years, in part because of what her choices might say about lessons she learned from her failed 2008 effort.

But it’s also been in part because she is the prohibitive Democratic front-runner, making her the biggest game in town for people who want to work on the presidential race.

Clinton’s timing about making a final decision and then announcing it has been a source of speculation for months, as her advisers split on whether she should get in sooner — which some former Obama advisers counseled as well — to end the appearance of being coy, or take as long as she can.

She has added three new paid speeches through January and February, indicating that a formal announcement may not come until after that window. John Podesta, currently counselor to President Barack Obama and a veteran Clinton hand, is expected to serve a senior role in her campaign.

Podesta told reporters Thursday he will stay on until after the president’s State of the Union address.